Astral
by GoldenEnderHawk
Summary: Set a few months after the events of Endgame. The Avengers compound was currently under re-construction. Stephen goes to Tony's lab every so often, hoping to find a way to make his life normal again. Fluff with a bit of Angst. IronStrange Best gurl Goose


**Set a few months after the events of Endgame.**

**The Avengers compound was currently under re-construction. Stephen goes to Tony's lab every so often, hoping to find a way to make his life _normal_ again.**

**Fluff with a bit of Angst.**

**IronStrange + Best gurl Goose**

-x-

Stephen sat in Tony's lab. His shaking hands clasped together as he leaned back in his seat, eyes shut tight. He let out a sigh before opening his eyes after a few silent moments. Another pair of eyes met his. Green and bright.

With a raised eyebrow, Stephen spoke, "What are you looking at?"

A simple _meow_ was the response.

Shaking his head, he looked around the room. The destroyed remains of the original Gauntlet lay across a table in the far corner. That always bought back bad memories. The damaged Iron Man suit stood nearby.

Another meow.

The sorcerer looked back at the '_cat'_.

"Why do I have to babysit you?" he mumbled to himself, looking down at his hands.

_Meow_.

The '_cat_' just sat there upon the table, occasionally looking around before looking back directly into Stephen's eyes.

"What are you trying to do? Hypnotize me?"

Stephen wasn't the biggest fans of the Flerken species.

"And who the hell names a '_cat'_: Goose?"

Goose replied with another meow.

"Don't tell me you actually like it!?" he said leaning forward.

Goose's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You're already insufferable..."

"_Hey!_ You leave Goose alone!" the voice made Stephen jump.

Stephen looked over his shoulder, "Jesus, Tony. You could've warned me."

"What did you want me to do?" Tony asked, approaching, "Tap you on the shoulder?" he moved his hand towards Stephen. His hand faded through the sorcerer, "Oh, yeah, I forgot. I can't actually_ touch_ anything."

Stephen smiled, rolling his eyes, "Okay, okay." he stood and faced Tony, the slight glow coming from his astral form almost mesmerizing.

Tony looked over at Goose, her head tilted slightly, "You should leave Goose alone. She is a good cat and doesn't deserve your abuse."

"_She_ is not a cat. It is a Flerken. An evil creature that could kill us at any moment."

"Well... She could kill _you_." Tony joked, "For I am invincible."

"That doesn't help the situation."

Goose stood and walked to the edge of the table, meowing as she did.

"Oh, I know, Goosey." Tony said, "The nasty wizard won't give you food. _He_ is the evil creature, not you."

"Goose doesn't need food. She's greedy enough as it is. She ate the Eye of Agamotto earlier." he said in clear frustration.

"How dare you!" Tony said in mock offence, "Goose holds this team together and you want to tear it apart."

"I love how you're taking the side of a Flerken over me."

Tony shrugged, "Goose is innocent."

"If you don't keep quiet I will destroy the inventions that survived Thanos' attack."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Really?"

"Honestly... I'm fine with you destroying my stuff as long as you don't mention that purple asshole again."

Stephen nodded, "You're right. Sorry."

"It's alright, babe." Tony replied with a sad smile, "Just... tell me you've made some progress."

"Ehhh..." Stephen started, "Kind of." he sighed as he sat back down, head in his hands, "It's not so simple."

"I just need a body, right? Can't you just go back and-"

"No. Your body was heavily damaged. Putting your astral form back into your body would end up killing you." he paused, "I did suggest putting your astral form into an Iron Man suit. Of course you would have to guide me and help me build one."

"I already told you no. A suit isn't a real body."

"What do you want me to do? Put you inside of Goose?" he leaned back and motioned towards the Flerken.

Goose cocked her head to the side and meowed, clearly worried.

"There is no way you are putting me into a cat, Stephen."

"_Flerken_."

"Flerken." Tony paused, "A very cute Flerken." Tony's hand moved towards Goose before he paused, his hand freezing.

Stephen noticed Tony's face drop, "Hey, Anthony... I promise we will work something out. Okay?" he quickly stood up to stand face-to-face to him once again.

Tony's hand lowered before he looked at Stephen. His eyes glossed over, "You promise?"

"I promise." he smiled. A low chuckled escaped him, "You sure you don't want a Flerken for a body?"

"I am 100% sure, Stephen. I'm not sure people would be too comfortable with you making out with a cat."

"_Flerken_."

"Fucking Flerken!"

"I'm not sure they would like to see me _fucking_ a Flerken either."

"You said that Goose was insufferable... But really you are." Tony mumbled.

Genuine smiles were both on their faces.

Stephen clenched his fists.

"I wish I could hold your hands to help stop them shaking." Tony whispered.

"It's okay. As long as you're here, I'll be fine..." he took a shaky breath, "But if it ever becomes too much for you, Anthony... If you can't stand being in your astral form. You can go. You can be in peace. I'll make i-"

"_Stephen_." he said, firmly, "I'll never leave you. _Never_."

Stephen nodded, his eyes flickered between Tony and the Flerken. His eyes finally stayed on Goose to his left, "I'm slowly becoming uncomfortable with this Flerken watching us."

"If you don't leave Goosey alone I will make her eat you."

Chuckling, Stephen looked over Tony. His heart melted. He wanted to help Tony. He would do anything to help him. He wanted to go back and somehow get Tony's body from some point in time. But after living through a few hundred possibilities, all the outcomes turned out negative.

"I've been thinking, Tony..." he finally spoke.

"Whenever you think, something bad happens."

"Not _all_ the time." he replied, "Only about 95% of the time."

Tony laughed, "Okay. What have you been thinking about?"

"You might not like this... But what if I forced myself into my astral form. So I could be with you."

Tony froze, "Wh-What? What do you-"

Stephen stepped closer, "I could be with you. In the astral dimension."

He shook his head, "You can't do that, Stephie. What if you want to go back and you can't?"

"I won't want to go back."

"The _Avengers_ need you. The _world_ needs you." Tony tried to reason.

"But_ I_ need _you_."

A sad smile appeared on Tony's face, "You're so stubborn."

"Not as stubborn as you."

Tony groaned, "Okay, okay. How about... We try to figure something out for another month. If nothing comes up. I will consider going into an Iron Man suit."

"A month?"

"Exactly a month." Tony nodded, "I don't think I will make it a month... But it will be worth it. I love you."

Stephen couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face, "I love you, too, Tony."

Goose gave a low meow. It was somehow possible to see the disgust on Goose's face.

"Don't worry little Goosey. I love you, too." Tony spoke. He then winked, "And just between you and me. I love you more than Stephie."

"You wound me, Stark." he paused, "Could you help me build a suit in the meantime? It could be fun."

"Yeah. As long as you teach me some of your weird Hogwarts magic-y stuff."

"Hogwarts? Magic-y stuff? You sound like Peter. You have somehow wounded me _again._"

Tony chuckled, "It will take a while but we can do it."

"The faster we get it done the better. I could put your astral form into the suit temporarily if you ever want a hug."

"Seriously?" Tony asked with hope, "Okay. We're starting. Right now. Go. Go and get-"

Tony was cut off by a horrifying sound. It was wet and awful. They both quickly realised that it was Goose.

"Oh, god..." Stephen said.

"No! Goose!" Tony pointed at the Flerken, "Do _not_ throw up on my table! Goose!"

Of course...

She didn't listen.

The sound was horrifying. They both would never forget the sound.

"Lets get to building that suit." Stephen said. He couldn't seem to look away from the wet mess on the table. The Eye of Agamotto was clearly in the middle of all the slop. He slowly started to walk away.

"Now hang on." Tony replied, "Shouldn't you pick that eye up or...?"

"No. I'm building this suit so you can pick it up. So get to it." Stephen walked back over, with a familiar device in his hand, "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart." he smiled, his hand was tight around an arc reactor.

"Oh, shut up." Tony rolled his eyes, but a smile remained on his face.

Goose meowed, acting innocent.

Stephen turned to Goose, still smiling. His free hand came up to pet Goose on the head, "Good cat."

"Flerken."

"Shut up, Stark."

"Never, Strange."


End file.
